7 Signs of Gutter Damage on Your Home
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If you’re like most people, your gutters aren’t something you often think about. They need biannual gutter cleaning, but otherwise, their purpose is incredibly simple.
It’s not until your rain gutters aren’t doing their job that you realize how important they are for your home!
WHAT DO GUTTERS DO?
Gutters and downspouts go unnoticed on most homes in Elkhart. They blend into the exterior unless the homeowner has opted for copper or wood … building materials that are designed to stand out! Most are crafted from durable but lightweight aluminum or vinyl siding.
The purpose of gutters is to create a route of minimal resistance for rain and snow to get off your roof as fast as possible. When they are in good shape, your rain gutters will direct runoff away from the home’s foundation and landscaping, protecting your home’s exterior from mildew and mold, the foundation and basement from leaking water, and the rain gutters themselves from wear and rust.
When gutters are damaged, it can lead to thousands of dollars’ worth of damage to your home and property.
ARE YOUR GUTTERS DAMAGED?
Gutter damage is too simple to fix to be the cause of any major home repairs! Inspecting your gutters is easy and safe. If you notice any of the following signs, it’s a pretty good clue that your rain gutters have some type of damage.
As soon as you identify a gutter issue, you can decide if it’s something you feel comfortable repairing or remedying by yourself or if it’s a project you should call a gutter repairman to handle.
Sitting Water Near Your Home
Sitting water near your home is a sure sign that your gutters or downspouts are not sending the water runoff away from your house the way they should be. Standing water can lead to mold, weakening of your foundation, and creates the perfect habitat for pesky mosquitoes. And, it will make the areas surrounding your home perpetually soggy and muddy.
Mold or Mildew
Mold or mildew is a bad sign, whether you see mold or mildew on the rain gutters or the exterior of your house. Mold and mildew mean there is excessive moisture in that area – a potential issue with the rain gutters could be to blame. Keep in mind that mold and mildew are more likely to appear on the north side of a home anyway, so if that’s where these substances are growing, it might just be because that area doesn’t get a lot of direct sunlight. This is a scenario where the advice and knowledge of a gutter specialist in Elkhart would be a great help.
Rain Pouring Over the Gutter
You will need to wait until it’s actually raining to look for this type of gutter problem. Hopefully this doesn’t mean you have gutter damage. It might just be that the gutter is clogged with debris and needs to be cleaned out. In either case, you want to have it looked at ASAP.
Basement Leaks
Based on the construction of your basement, the leaking could be caused by any number of things. The standing water issue we mentioned earlier could definitely result in a basement leak. Egress windows and cinder block walls can only keep out so much water. That’s why it is so necessary to keep your gutters in working order!
Landscaping or Lawn Damage
Gutters pour directly onto the ground in most cases, and landscaping should be designed to work with this flow of water to help it submerge into the ground. However, a leaking gutter or clogged gutter will cause rainfall to overflow or pool where it shouldn’t. This pooling rain water can kill plants either by force or by overwatering. It might also displace flower bed building materials like mulch or rock.
Water Marks
Water marks are the first sign that there is excessive moisture on a surface. Water marks are sometimes left behind even if standing water has evaporated or dissipated. You will usually find water marks under the rain gutters or behind the downspouts. This is a usually an indication that rain water is running down the outside of the gutters rather than staying inside of them.
Visible Gutter Damage
The last sign of gutter damage is the easiest to spot. If your gutters are bent, sagging or cracked in the middle, they have damage. Following a storm, it’s a good idea to walk around your home to assess any damage to the roof shingles, outer walls, and rain gutters. These inspections are in addition to your standard home inspections.
HOW TO PROTECT YOUR GUTTERS?
Here are a few easy ways Elkhart Gutter Experts recommends to prevent gutter damage:
Clean your gutters at least one time each year. You can extend the amount of time between gutter repairs by keeping them cleaned out. As with anything else, the better you care for your rain gutters, the fewer problems you’ll experience with them.
The optimal time to clean out gutters is in the spring, but to be extra cautious, give them a good cleaning in the fall, too. A lot of homeowners choose to clean their gutters on their own, but there are many professional gutter cleaning companies that offer this service so you don’t have to deal with the mess or the risk.
Check your gutters often. Signs of damage can often be visible from the outside of the gutters. Just a quick inspection – with both feet firmly on the ground – should reveal any of the signs we mentioned above.
We’d recommend that you do an exterior home inspection after each season to be sure that your gutters are working correctly.
When you see signs of gutter damage, act fast. Taking care of a problem before it becomes too bad can save you time and money. A small crack, for example, can be sealed, or the section of gutter with the crack can be replaced very affordably.
However, if you let the problem go on for too long, you could end up needing repairs in your basement, replacing expensive vinyl siding or redoing an entire area of landscaping.